Victims of Intimate Partner Violence. The Physician’s Intervention in the Portuguese National Health Service

This study intends to characterize the current situation in Portugal regarding intimate partner violence (IPV) disclosure by the victims and its detection and report by the National Health Service (NHS) professionals, in order to promote the health and protection of the former. We interviewed 101 adult victims of IPV who sought care in the NHS. The results reveal that a relevant number of victims did not disclose the abuse to NHS physicians (18.8 %). According to the victims, in 57.9 % of the cases, physicians did not suspect IPV. In cases where there actually was suspicion (based on specific evidence and markers) or where there was no concealment of such type of violence, 52.3 % of the physicians did not inform the victims about the risks this situation posed to them, 89.8 % did not mention their obligation to denounce the case (as it is foreseen by the Portuguese law), and the number of injuries they described was lower than the one described in the forensic medical reports.     

The governance of justice and internal security in Scotland: between the Scottish independence referendum and British decisions on the EU

This article examines how the governance of justice and internal security in Scotland could be affected by the outcome of the Scottish independence referendum in September 2014. The article argues that it is currently impossible to equate a specific result in the referendum with a given outcome for the governance of justice and internal security in Scotland. This is because of the complexities of the current arrangements in that policy area and the existence of several changes that presently affect them and are outside the control of the government and of the people of Scotland. This article also identifies an important paradox. In the policy domain of justice and internal security, a ‘no’ vote could, in a specific set of circumstances, actually lead to more changes than a victory of the ‘yes’ camp.     

Environmental conditions associated with shark attacks against humans: a case report about territoriality

This article describes the autopsy findings of a victim of a shark attack that took place off the coast of Pernambuco, Brazil. The victim was rescued and immediately taken to a nearby hospital but did not survive, even though the lapse of time between the attack and verification of death did not exceed 15 minutes. The presence of a single, large, contused and incised, semiarched wound with a serrated aspect was decisive in elucidating the event. Thus, this study discusses aspects related to the aggressor species, to the autopsy, to the type of wound, and to the causes that have led to a significant increase in this type of event in the area. It was concluded that the lesion was produced while the victim was still alive and that it was the cause of death.     

Voltammetric determination of Δ9-THC in glassy carbon electrode: An important contribution to forensic electroanalysis

Teeth are recently drawing attention for their potential as biological modeling investigation samples due to their ability to be collected and their slow substance metabolism. There is no active metabolism of elements after the completion of dentin. Dentin is surrounded by enamel and cementum, and is not affected by the oral environment. Therefore, the amount of trace elements in dentin may change with age, and this is considered to be a reliable biological load index. The objectives in this study are to demonstrate concentrations of elements in the dentin of healthy Japanese subjects by sex and age, and to reveal the relationship between element levels and age. 121 healthy teeth samples were extracted due to periodontal disease or orthodontic treatment. Each tooth was sliced from the crown to the root apex into 0.5-1mm thickness, then enamel, cementum, and the pulp were removed; the dentins were used as samples. The concentration of 10 trace elements (B, Mn, Co, Cu, Zn, Rb, Sr, Mo, Cd, and Pb) in the dentin was measured using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICP-MS). The differences Co and Pb in the dentin between men and women were significant (p<0.01). Significant positive correlation was observed between B, Co, Cu, Zn, Sr and Pb concentrations in the dentin and age (p<0.001). The results of the present study suggest that human dentin is an appropriate substance for relativity with sex and age at further future research.     

Personality and criminality a summary and implications of the literature

Recent studies purporting to correlate criminality and personality are reviewed to update the earlier works of Schuessler and Cressey, and Waldo and Dinitz. It was found that fifty-two different tests were used in the recent literature compared with the twenty-nine different tests found both in the Schuessler-Cressey and Waldo-Dinitz works. It was also found that more recent tests are no better at differentiating between the criminal and noncriminal than the older tests were, although the majority of the current tests find more differences within the groups.     

Parole: How it is working

This paper presents some relevant information on parole and on several determinate sentencing proposals. Guidelines formulated by the United States Parole Commission demonstrate that release decisions can be structured to (1) enhance equity, (2) facilitate the explanation for decision variance, and (3) expose decision policy to public evaluation and debate. Empirically, parolees have a higher success rate or lower proportion of new convictions than those released in other ways. In contrast, the determinate sentencing proposals merely displace discretion to other areas of the criminal justice system where it is less visible and, hence, less subject to control.